pmp's Silent and Classic Movies blog

Just checked out poormadpeter's Silent and Classic Movies blog which kicked off last month.

There's already some interesting posts, so I thought I'd give it a plug (as he's probably reluctant to start his own thread on it ) Plus, I know from experience that it can be tough getting visitors to a new site.

Head over if it's a subject that interests you:
http://silentmovieblog.wordpress.com/


And no I wasn't asked to plug it

Nice blog,the Jack Pickford article was very good
well done Peter

Thanks. Bookmarked!!

But, he'll always be Pete to me!

rjm
P.S. -- Where is his study: OF US!?! I wanna see it! (I'm still working on a paper about A Face In The Crowd. Taking a while. Kudos to him!)

Excellent work Peter!

Thanks. Bookmarked!!

But, he'll always be Pete to me!

rjm
P.S. -- Where is his study: OF US!?! I wanna see it! (I'm still working on a paper about A Face In The Crowd. Taking a while. Kudos to him!)

Yes, at the beginning of the year I was planning a paper on Elvis films and fandom. Sadly, a few weeks later Dad went into hospital and a month after that passed away. I ended up taking quite a bit of time away from the phd and academic work altogether, and so sadly the Elvis piece I was planning got put to one side and I haven't had the opportunity as yet to pick it up again.

And thanks for the plug. The Jack Pickford piece was actually posted here some time ago, and so stole my own work for the opening post on the blog.

For anyone interested, the blog has been updated today with a review of the recent biography of Ramon Novarro, which is much recommended (the biography, not the review!)

For anyone interested, the blog has been updated today with a review of the recent biography of Ramon Novarro, which is much recommended (the biography, not the review!)

After the debate tonight, I will learn something! Cool.

rjm

The first post in the blog was an investigation into how Jack Pickford was treated in the press following his wife's death, and the suggestion that he had a part to play. Today I've updated the blog with the first in what I hope will be a series of new picture-based posts featuring stills and pictures from lost films. Trawling through film magazines from the past can be a lengthy but rewarding process, and I think the pictures I've found from the period 1916-1919 are ones not otherwise available to us. It made sense for the first in the series to feature the lost films of Jack Pickford, so for anyone interested in glimpses of films we will never see again, head over to the blog (see signature for address)

The first post in the blog was an investigation into how Jack Pickford was treated in the press following his wife's death, and the suggestion that he had a part to play. Today I've updated the blog with the first in what I hope will be a series of new picture-based posts featuring stills and pictures from lost films. Trawling through film magazines from the past can be a lengthy but rewarding process, and I think the pictures I've found from the period 1916-1919 are ones not otherwise available to us. It made sense for the first in the series to feature the lost films of Jack Pickford, so for anyone interested in glimpses of films we will never see again, head over to the blog (see signature for address)

Aw, you just really wanted us to see the Speedway analysis! (BTW: Elvis was naked in LALLAL: in the shower, where she offers to scrub his back, and he goes "hey!" Are you sure you're gay? ) Nice, but very brief analysis of his direction in films, but the Speedway scene was just given a mere glance. It didn't really deserve more, of course. One good point: the other actors really get into the thing, as a kind of send-up, along with gender-role topsy-turvy, while Elvis looks like a robot. A robot considering the auto-destruct function. You can tell that he just can't believe he's still doing this.

Nice photos, always interesting. Thanks.

rjm

The first post in the blog was an investigation into how Jack Pickford was treated in the press following his wife's death, and the suggestion that he had a part to play. Today I've updated the blog with the first in what I hope will be a series of new picture-based posts featuring stills and pictures from lost films. Trawling through film magazines from the past can be a lengthy but rewarding process, and I think the pictures I've found from the period 1916-1919 are ones not otherwise available to us. It made sense for the first in the series to feature the lost films of Jack Pickford, so for anyone interested in glimpses of films we will never see again, head over to the blog (see signature for address)

Aw, you just really wanted us to see the Speedway analysis! (BTW: Elvis was naked in LALLAL: in the shower, where she offers to scrub his back, and he goes "hey!" Are you sure you're gay? ) Nice, but very brief analysis of his direction in films, but the Speedway scene was just given a mere glance. It didn't really deserve more, of course. One good point: the other actors really get into the thing, as a kind of send-up, along with gender-role topsy-turvy, while Elvis looks like a robot. A robot considering the auto-destruct function. You can tell that he just can't believe he's still doing this.

Nice photos, always interesting. Thanks.

rjm

Aww, well the Speedway thing was actually from an old post I made on here, so nothing to get excited about, although I do find that scene very interesting. And yes, Elvis would have been much better "going for it" than trying to look embarassed, as it works really quite well as a send-up.

Regarding the silent film material, the Media Digital History Project is a wonderful resource. There is a magazine from the 1910s on there that simply retells the stories of the most popular films of the week in stories last three or four pages. Considering that about 95% of films from the 1910s are lost, this is going to be the most wonderful resource to find out what the narratives of those films were - and that's without the wonderful stills from the lost films, and the endless reviews etc - I'll be using the latter in an article on Pickford when I get a chance as, in his case, they are really quite surprising.

The first post in the blog was an investigation into how Jack Pickford was treated in the press following his wife's death, and the suggestion that he had a part to play. Today I've updated the blog with the first in what I hope will be a series of new picture-based posts featuring stills and pictures from lost films. Trawling through film magazines from the past can be a lengthy but rewarding process, and I think the pictures I've found from the period 1916-1919 are ones not otherwise available to us. It made sense for the first in the series to feature the lost films of Jack Pickford, so for anyone interested in glimpses of films we will never see again, head over to the blog (see signature for address)

Aw, you just really wanted us to see the Speedway analysis! (BTW: Elvis was naked in LALLAL: in the shower, where she offers to scrub his back, and he goes "hey!" Are you sure you're gay? ) Nice, but very brief analysis of his direction in films, but the Speedway scene was just given a mere glance. It didn't really deserve more, of course. One good point: the other actors really get into the thing, as a kind of send-up, along with gender-role topsy-turvy, while Elvis looks like a robot. A robot considering the auto-destruct function. You can tell that he just can't believe he's still doing this.

Nice photos, always interesting. Thanks.

rjm

Aww, well the Speedway thing was actually from an old post I made on here, so nothing to get excited about, although I do find that scene very interesting. And yes, Elvis would have been much better "going for it" than trying to look embarassed, as it works really quite well as a send-up.

He was embarrassed. I don't think specifically about the particular production number, but that here he was again, in something ridiculous. It wasn't at all what he originally had in mind for his career. Bill Bixby is energetic about it. Just throws himself into it. I think Elvis saw it no differently than the Clambake scene with the kids, in which he put an imaginary gun to his head and pulled the trigger. And now here he was again.

Regarding the silent film material, the Media Digital History Project is a wonderful resource. There is a magazine from the 1910s on there that simply retells the stories of the most popular films of the week in stories last three or four pages. Considering that about 95% of films from the 1910s are lost, this is going to be the most wonderful resource to find out what the narratives of those films were - and that's without the wonderful stills from the lost films, and the endless reviews etc - I'll be using the latter in an article on Pickford when I get a chance as, in his case, they are really quite surprising.

Thanks. Will check it out! That is significant history. It's a shame they're lost, because they are a window into a lost world. I like to watch very old films just to look at the world, and think of all who lived then while they were filming. And to see what a different world it was: all the things they didn't have that we've long taken for granted, etc. And how comfortable they were in this strange, ancient place. (Well, now it is.)

It also reminds one that this is the FIRST century in which history will be fully electronically recorded for the future.

rjm

Just added you to Google's new "Blogger" which replaces the "Reeder" (I think that's the spelling) app that they closed. I never used it, but I read about it, and found this. Hey, I can just create a blog for free! Cool. I might do it on my biz account for my school. Educational rants and raves and stuff. Perhaps. We'll see.

Under my own name ("rjm") - they asked for a handle years ago, when I was commenting on a few blog posts, maybe I'll post an Elvis and Culture blog of some kind. I thought it meant "blab logging" and perhaps it does. But it's the new thing! It's journalism now: very democratic.

This could be fun!

rjm

Last edited by rjm on Wed Apr 03, 2013 7:01 am, edited 2 times in total.

Blogging is becoming all the rage, and seems to be taking off in two separate areas in particular. The first is that it's a convenient way for ordinary people to have their say on things that matter to them, political and otherwise. The fact that Joe Bloggs (excuse the pun) sitting in his bedroom can write his thoughts about politics, religion, art or whatever and that, through initially tweeting the link to his couple of hundred followers on twitter, that article could land up being seen by hundreds of thousands and actually make a difference is tremendously exciting, I think. It's easy to criticise social media such as facebook and twitter, and of course some people abuse it (especially twitter), but it gives everyone a chance to be heard, and personally I think that's a wonderful thing.

The second area where blogging is taking off is that it's turning into a rather nice outlet for Academics to write and comment on things in a more naturalistic style than the often-ridiculous straight-laced constraints, formats and tones required for academic articles, where the content can be innovative and exciting but boring as hell to read. While it's unlikely to be an official part of how academics are appointed by universities in the near future, unofficially they (through links on twitter) are a wonderful opportunity for young and upcoming academics to get their work out there instantly without having to wait 12 months for a reply from a journal, and demonstrate their knowledge and enthusiasm for their subject aside from the more worthy articles etc they have offically published.

Even in the area of film studies, there seems to be a number of academics now who are seemingly not passionate about their subject and see it as simply a job. I'm not sure how that can be - they have a chance to indulge in their passion - and instill that passion in others - for the rest of their lives and get paid rather well for it to boot. But i think side-projects such as blogs will be seen as as much of an indicator as to whether an academic has something to say and the enthusiasm to say it as the articles he has published in a stuffy journal.

Blogging is becoming all the rage, and seems to be taking off in two separate areas in particular. The first is that it's a convenient way for ordinary people to have their say on things that matter to them, political and otherwise. The fact that Joe Bloggs (excuse the pun) sitting in his bedroom can write his thoughts about politics, religion, art or whatever and that, through initially tweeting the link to his couple of hundred followers on twitter, that article could land up being seen by hundreds of thousands and actually make a difference is tremendously exciting, I think. It's easy to criticise social media such as facebook and twitter, and of course some people abuse it (especially twitter), but it gives everyone a chance to be heard, and personally I think that's a wonderful thing.

The second area where blogging is taking off is that it's turning into a rather nice outlet for Academics to write and comment on things in a more naturalistic style than the often-ridiculous straight-laced constraints, formats and tones required for academic articles, where the content can be innovative and exciting but boring as hell to read. While it's unlikely to be an official part of how academics are appointed by universities in the near future, unofficially they (through links on twitter) are a wonderful opportunity for young and upcoming academics to get their work out there instantly without having to wait 12 months for a reply from a journal, and demonstrate their knowledge and enthusiasm for their subject aside from the more worthy articles etc they have offically published.

Even in the area of film studies, there seems to be a number of academics now who are seemingly not passionate about their subject and see it as simply a job. I'm not sure how that can be - they have a chance to indulge in their passion - and instill that passion in others - for the rest of their lives and get paid rather well for it to boot. But i think side-projects such as blogs will be seen as as much of an indicator as to whether an academic has something to say and the enthusiasm to say it as the articles he has published in a stuffy journal.

I absolutely agree. First of all, how many people read academic journals? Really? Especially in the Humanities? Today, or 20 years ago? Not many at all. I also got some things published "popularly" and though it was supposed to be selling yourself "cheap" (though you actually got paid for that), others said they wished they had a circulation of 15,000! (That was about a cable TV publication in the midwest, for which I wrote a piece. And got paid!)

I've had e-mails from people who've read some of my "officially published" things, and Proceedings, and my dissertation, but it's a small group. My dissertation IS, though, in the library of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame! Which totally floored me!

And, then there's the overpowering issue of few tenure track jobs in the USA, where around 70% (and rising) of faculty are contingent. Indentured servitude, is what it is! (Check out this page: http://www.profspace.com/slingrosso you can see the guy can't make a living teaching, so he works in the Student Affairs Office, which is mighty lucky. But he doesn't have a full teaching schedule, so he's working full time and teaching two courses. You can see that journal article writing will NOT fit his schedule. He's still a student, but there are Ph.D.s here in the States, with such burdens -- enormous numbers of them. But a blog might fit such a schedule . . .) So, those academics stop publishing, and presenting, and lose enthusiasm: blogging could rekindle research interests for young scholars! And thus, communicate that enthusiasm to their students, as well. So, it's great. I had an academic clearinghouse during the "dot.com" days, and had a "rants and raves" section (a primordial "blog"), and I got A LOT more attention for things there, than anywhere else. It was excellent. I got cited all around! I could repost some of those pieces on a real blog. I did one piece when Sinatra died, and you may either like it, or wanna kill me, either one. LOL! Actually, I really did a nice assessment, I think. It dealt with Barthes' "The Grain of the Voice", because The Voice just died.

But as to blogging, yes, it's the way to go for all kinds of academics and journalists now. Wish it were around a bit earlier. But, there's plenty of time! My mom always said "the time will pass anyway!" She meant: "so, why not DO it?!"

I will!

rjm (and others will read this, and . . . ah, well, there's all kinds of Elvis fans! Eggheads, too!)

Last edited by rjm on Wed Apr 03, 2013 8:58 am, edited 2 times in total.

Just checked out poormadpeter's Silent and Classic Movies blog which kicked off last month.

There's already some interesting posts, so I thought I'd give it a plug (as he's probably reluctant to start his own thread on it ) Plus, I know from experience that it can be tough getting visitors to a new site.

Head over if it's a subject that interests you:
http://silentmovieblog.wordpress.com/


And no I wasn't asked to plug it

I thought his site dealt with Silent Movies only. Good on ya and good luck with your endevours Peter. Is the two Rod Steiger movies Across The Bridge (1958) and No Way to Treat a Lady (1968) included ?

Just checked out poormadpeter's Silent and Classic Movies blog which kicked off last month.

There's already some interesting posts, so I thought I'd give it a plug (as he's probably reluctant to start his own thread on it ) Plus, I know from experience that it can be tough getting visitors to a new site.

Head over if it's a subject that interests you:
http://silentmovieblog.wordpress.com/


And no I wasn't asked to plug it

I thought his site dealt with Silent Movies only. Good on ya and good luck with your endevours Peter. Is the two Rod Steiger movies Across The Bridge (1958) and No Way to Treat a Lady (1968) included ?

No, not yet. Like most things, the blog has kind of...developed by itself. Originally it was silent movies, but then you realise you want to talk about other movies too, and so I just went with it!

As a quick plug for my own efforts(!), the "other" blog deals with reviews and comments on albums. The latest post might well be of interest to people here, as it is Elvis related - although likely to be controversial. Me? Saying things people don't like? Never!

http://shanesmusicalmiscellany.wordpress.com/2013/04/05/reconsider-baby-elvis-presley-and-the-dangers-of-the-posthumous-album/

As a quick plug for my own efforts(!), the "other" blog deals with reviews and comments on albums. The latest post might well be of interest to people here, as it is Elvis related - although likely to be controversial. Me? Saying things people don't like? Never!

http://shanesmusicalmiscellany.wordpress.com/2013/04/05/reconsider-baby-elvis-presley-and-the-dangers-of-the-posthumous-album/

I just made a place which collects miscellany - things that might not fit elsewhere, and I like the artsy-{*}artsy attitude. Just as an aside. Gonna put a lot of photographs there, that I'm taking, or took.

Check out the title when you get there.

http://robinmark64.tumblr.com/

rjm (I'm just starting to read your piece on EIC; I don't listen to it, truthfully. A broken voice in a broken body with a broken spirit. Not on my IPod Classic!)
-- I posted a comment on there. What happened to my comment? You moderate 'em?

As a quick plug for my own efforts(!), the "other" blog deals with reviews and comments on albums. The latest post might well be of interest to people here, as it is Elvis related - although likely to be controversial. Me? Saying things people don't like? Never!

http://shanesmusicalmiscellany.wordpress.com/2013/04/05/reconsider-baby-elvis-presley-and-the-dangers-of-the-posthumous-album/

I just made a place which collects miscellany - things that might not fit elsewhere, and I like the artsy-{*}artsy attitude. Just as an aside. Gonna put a lot of photographs there, that I'm taking, or took.

Check out the title when you get there.

http://robinmark64.tumblr.com/

rjm (I'm just starting to read your piece on EIC; I don't listen to it, truthfully. A broken voice in a broken body with a broken spirit. Not on my IPod Classic!)
-- I posted a comment on there. What happened to my comment? You moderate 'em?

Yes, there's a lot of weirdos out there, so moderate the comments - although I don't think I've had a message through yet to say there is one waiting, but it seems to take several hours.